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"Where did she go?"

"She moved in with a friend in Echo Park That’s where she hen the terrible things happened"

"Mason murdered her You can say it" I feel stupid, but I have to ask hiuy?"

"No, a girlfriend," he says "Alice had lovers after you were gone, but none of them were very serious You broke her heart She wasn’t the sa room from the kitchen The teakettle on the stove looks familiar, but not much else And I’m not sure about the kettle

"You checked up on her?"

"As much as I could She didn’t really want to see anybody froether Certainly, no one associated with ic"

That sounds like her She didn’t like Mason or anyone else in the Circle After I was gone, she’d want to get as far away froh I should have told her to leave town if soiven her an escape plan But what could happen to olden boy I was bulletproof

I say, "Thanks for trying And thanks for keeping the place I don’t knohat I would have done if I’d co here"

Vidocq picks ups the bottle of red wine frolass for lass, raises it, and we both drink I sit down on the couch

"So, how are you? What have you been doing since I’ve been gone?"

"I’ve been working These days, the work is all I have," he says "Thievery pays for the tools, and the work showsis a lot like alchemy, you know In each, we each try to find what is beautiful and hidden and make it ours"

"This is funny The whole time we’ve known each other, I don’t re more than a feeeks anywhere It’s hard to picture you here as a rent-and-electric-bill guy"

"Don’t insult ypsy potion, a vin de memoire , et voila! Your hoer exists It is not seen or remembered, except, of course, by our funny sort of people The Sub Rosa"

The Sub Rosa I haven’t thought about the Sub Rosa in a long time

Vidocq is Sub Rosa So are Kasabian, Mason, and the rest of the Circle I’ht of h there arearound Southern California

Sub Rosas are the secret people who look just like you, but are different They bank where you bank They stand behind you in line at the coffee shop They panhandle you for the money that you suddenly and inexplicably have to drop into their grimy hands Some of us also talk to the dead Some see the future, trade souls like baseball cards, or bribe angels for a peek at God’s to-do list Mostly, Sub Rosas are the people regular people aren’t supposed to know about It’s not that we don’t like you; it’s that you have a habit of burning us at the stake when you notice us

Vidocq’s alcheear cover nearly every surface-racks of potions, books and scrolls in Latin and Greek, ale stones On a table in a corner are the baubles he’s stolen on co from courier envelopes, passports, and computer discs It was one of his less successful experiments that turned him immortal He’s spent the last hundred and fifty years stealing things to fund his research for a cure

"Thanks for watching the place I’lad you have it," I tell him "I couldn’t live here without Alice"

He nods sole at a friend’s place There’s a bathroom, a comfy bed, and all the movies you can eat You should co"

"I’m back here to kill soet the words out fast "I’ic circle"

"I knew that when you walked in And I understand I won’t even try to talk you out of it, but there are things you should know before you start"

I can tell this is going to be a Real Talk I light a cigarette as Vidocq pours , randparents were born Revenge is never what you think it’s going to be There’s no pleasure and glory, and when it’s done your grief re about, he will never be the sao back to who he was before Worst of all, no matter how many enemies you kill, you are never satisfied There is always one more who deserves it When it becomes too easy to kill, it never ends"

"You stopped"

"The desire is still there, even though all the men are dead, the ones I killed and the ones who passed away during the many years I restrained et on a ship, and coers and cowboys You are starting down a bad road, my friend"

"I appreciate the advice Don’t worry I’m not here to ask for help"

"Don’t be stupid Of course I’ll help you We must always look after our friends, even when they are foolish Especially when they are foolish"

"Thank you, old lass I clink arette, I take out the knife I used on Kasabian and pry up so uns is still there I pull out the bundle and set the guns on the table, one by one A good copy of an 1861 Navy Colt revolver, modified for modern 44 caliber shells A heavy Civil War-era LeMat pistol A Browning 45 seun They all need a good cleaning before I can use theh Vidocq’sit feels like aon, a knife behind ?" asks Vidocq

"There’s so and hearing things I shouldn’t Like right now you’re sweating and your heartbeat is going up Like maybe you’re a little afraid"

"You’re back here frouns frohtened for both of us?"

"There’s other things, too I’ve turned kind of death-proof I can get shot, ripped apart, dropped in a Cuisinart, and I just get up and walk away I don’t understand what’s happening to e as Superman How is that possible?"

"You’re the one with the all the books You tell me"

"Perhaps, like me, you were cursed with an inability to die"

"What happened to you wasn’t a curse You just decided it was Besides, if anything, those Don deet back there quicker"

"Perhaps it’s si ht be a natural biological response A side effect of having been in that awful place Perhaps you should be grateful that you have this new gift to accentuate your natural ical abilities"

"I don’t trust it It ure out Or it’s a setup Nothing that happened down there was for my benefit"